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5 Things Great Brands Do

December 6, 2018

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People are a business’ most valuable asset, and according to a study by Dale Carnegie, organizations with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%. Successful companies know that investing in their people is good for their brand and good for their business. But while 90% of leaders think an employee engagement strategy will have an impact on their business success, less than 25% actually have one.

Employee engagement creates the emotional and functional commitment an employee has with an organization and its brand. Here are some examples of brands doing it right.

Southwest

A brand favorite of Tag’s, Southwest recognizes that employees who understand the brand are more satisfied and productive employees. With 46,000 employees, Southwest has had 43 years of consecutive profit! CEO Gary Kelly certainly credits and rewards them. “I am very thankful to our great Southwest People, and I commend them on these exceptional results, which earned them a record $620 million in profit sharing.”

Zappos

Often cited for their incredible culture, Zappos’ investment into engaging its employees is clear. It starts with how it onboards new hires. “The Zappos Family New Hire program is four weeks of training designed to grow our culture, build a stronger team, and create lasting relationships throughout the entire company.” Its commitment to its employees continues as it develops classes to enhance employee skill sets.

The classes have fun names such as “Pimp my Powerpoint” (for anyone who wants to improve Powerpoint skills), “Tighten your Team” (for managers to gather team building ideas), and “How to Write More Better” (for employees to improve their grammar). Zappos strong employee engagement stems for its deliberate desire to do so and having core values to support it, including “Create Fun and A Little Weirdness.”

Aetna

Our own brand guru, Michelle Taglialatela, wrote about how Aetna CEO, Mark Bertolini, recognized the importance of employee satisfaction. His focus to offer work-life balance, onsite doctors, exam rooms, massage therapists, healthy food options, nutritious Meals To Go, and a fitness center where employees have permission to exercise any time of the day, Aetna employees reported a 28% decrease in stress levels and 20% improvement in sleep quality. It also had a great impact on Aetna’s bottom line, whose share price more than tripled over the last 5 years.

Author:

Michelle Taglialatela is Tag’s brand strategist, one of 35 nationally who is certified by The Brand Establishment.
Michelle applies Tag’s proprietary process to create one-of-a-kind brand strategies that transform cultures and improve the bottom line. Tag has brand depth rivaled by few; and has been working with clients for more than a decade helping them exceed their objectives and stand out!